HARTFORD - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday directed U.S. and state flags to fly at half-staff to honor a World War II airman from Winsted, according to a release.

The flags should fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday in honor of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John H. Canty, who was killed in action in 1944 at the age of 22 and whose remains were recently discovered and returned to his family. A funeral service and burial with full military honors is being held Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C., according to the release.

Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag, all other flags, including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise, should also be lowered during this same duration of time.

“Staff Sgt. Canty put his life on the line and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States, and for that we are forever grateful,” Malloy said in the release. “These many decades later, he has rightfully returned home and will receive a proper burial at one of our nation’s most sacred grounds alongside other heroes who fought on behalf of our country. We are forever grateful for his service, and I ask all Connecticut residents to join me in honoring Staff Sgt. Canty’s memory and sacrifice.”

Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said the state is deeply grateful to Canty for his service to the nation.

“He and his squadron were integral to the allied war effort and bringing a halt to the terrible destruction caused by the Third Reich,” she said in the release. “Time gives us tremendous perspective - we are able to understand just how important the service and sacrifices made by the men and women who served in WWII were to the freedoms we have today, and how meaningful their actions were then and are now. I join many others in welcoming him home.”

On June 22, 1944, Staff Sgt. Canty was a member of the 555th Bombardment Squadron, 386th Bombardment Group, IX Bomber Command, aboard a B-26 Maurader on a nighttime bombing mission from Easton Lodge-Essex, England, against targets near Caen, France, according to the release. His B-26 was shot down between the villages of baron-sur-Odon and Gavrus, France. All eight crewmembers were killed in the incident. Because the location of the crash was in German-held territory, U.S. forces were unable to make a detailed search for the crew at the time of their loss, the release said.

Following the liberation of France, the American Graves Registration Command, U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, searched for and disinterred the remains of U.S. service members who were killed in battle. Residents of Gavrus recalled that a two-engine airplane crashed just outside the village on June 22, 1944.

An American was recovered and buried in a nearby British cemetery. In 1945, the remains were exhumed and he was identified as an airman aboard the same aircraft as Staff Sgt. Canty. However, no other remains were identified and Staff Sgt. Canty was declared non-recoverable, according to the release.

In October 2014, British researcher Michael Jurd notified U.S. authorities that he found remains, as well as personal effects that corresponded to Staff Sgt. Canty, near Gavrus. In 2016, a U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency investigation team surveyed the reported crash site and recommended it for excavation. Between April and May 2017, a DPAA recovery team excavated the crash site between Baron-sur-Odon and Gavrus, locating possible remains and personal effects, according to the release.

Staff Sgt. Canty’s remains were identified on Dec. 12, 2017 by scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System using mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and material evidence, the release said.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,906 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II.

Staff Sgt. Canty’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, according to the release.